Asia-Pacific
Banking and finance news from China, Japan, India, Australia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific
Argentina central bank head meets China on currency swap overture
Argentina's central bank president met his Chinese counterpart in Shanghai, signalling a quiet return to talks on a currency swap after Buenos Aires cut back the activated portion of a Beijing lifeline under US pressure.
Grab is reportedly in talks to join Atome Financial funding round
Grab was reportedly in discussions to participate in Atome Financial's funding round that DealStreetAsia said could raise more than US$100 million, as Grab sought to deepen its BNPL and lending presence.
Thailand House accepts in principle bill to allow issuance and trading of electronic securities
Thailand's House of Representatives unanimously accepted in principle a government bill amending the Securities and Exchange Act to permit issuance and trading of securities in electronic form and tighten oversight.
Kazakhstan's Altyn Bank looks to Hong Kong as offshore renminbi gateway
Altyn Bank, a Kazakhstan commercial lender backed by China Citic Bank, sought collaboration with Hong Kong financial institutions to develop offshore renminbi financing channels for Kazakhstan.
Kasikornbank warns Mideast war will weigh on its asset quality
Kasikornbank said the ongoing Middle East war would weigh more heavily on its asset quality in the second half of the year and that it would provide targeted support and relief measures for affected customers.
Munify integrates with Circle to enable USDC local payouts in Philippines
Munify integrated with Circle Payments Network so that users can receive funds from abroad in USDC and have them converted into Philippine pesos and paid out to local bank accounts and e-wallets.
Indian banks raise FCNR(B) deposit rates with peak offers near seven percent
Indian banks raised interest rates on FCNR(B) foreign currency non-resident deposits, with peak offers touching about 7 percent as lenders sought to boost inflows from non-resident depositors.
Canara Bank raises MCLR on short tenures as liquidity tightens in India
Canara Bank raised its marginal cost of funds based lending rate for overnight to six month tenures by 5 basis points with effect from 12 June, amid tight liquidity conditions, while leaving longer-tenure MCLR unchanged.
China Construction Bank issues USD 1 billion and CNY 3 billion of senior green notes
CCB sold two USD 500 million floating-rate green tranches through its Hong Kong branch and CNY 3 billion of 1.64% green notes through its London branch, under its USD 15 billion MTN programme.
Indian banks likely to see further declines in bad loans despite economic headwinds, S&P says
S&P Global Market Intelligence expects asset quality at major Indian lenders to keep improving despite the Middle East war and weak rainfall, though net interest margins narrowed in the January-March quarter.
India extends credit guarantee scheme for microfinance institutions until August 31
India extended the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Microfinance Institutions 2.0 until August 31 and raised the maximum loan amount for large NBFC-MFIs and MFIs to ₹1,000 crore from ₹300 crore.
GIFT City opens applications for second fintech cohort in India
GIFT City opened applications for its second fintech cohort, offering three months of in-person residency followed by three months of virtual support to early-stage start-ups focused on product development and market validation.